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Michael Saylor's Bitcoin Bet Profit Tops $2B

MicroStrategy held nearly 175,000 bitcoins in its treasury as of the end of November.

Updated Mar 8, 2024, 6:12 p.m. Published Dec 4, 2023, 5:11 p.m.
MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor (Getty Images)
MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor (Getty Images)

Business intelligence company MicroStrategy (MSTR) earlier on Monday was sitting on more than a $2 billion profit on its massive holdings of bitcoin following the crypto’s rally above $42,000.

Led by then CEO and now Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy began purchasing bitcoin in August 2020. The company's most recent purchases took place last month and as of Nov. 30, MicroStrategy held 174,530 bitcoin acquired for $5.28 billion, or an average price of $30,252 each.

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With bitcoin at $42,000 earlier Monday, the value of MSTR's holdings rose to roughly $7.3 billion, or more than a $2 billion profit. The price at press time had pulled back modestly to $41,700.

Bitcoin has not seen such a high level since April 2022, or before the crash of the Terra ecosystem. At its lowest during the bear market of 2022, bitcoin had pulled back to under $16,000, putting MicroStrategy's bet deep in the red. Saylor, however, continued to add to the company's holdings, funding purchases with a mixture of debt and equity issuance.

Microstrategy (MSTR) shares were trading around 6% higher on Monday.

Click here to read CoinDesk's Most Influential list for 2023, a series of 50 profiles of key people, companies and trends in crypto.

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KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market

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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.

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  • KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
  • This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
  • Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
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Asia Morning Briefing: Data shows legacy media took a more balanced view of bitcoin in 2025

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Media attention shifted from bitcoin’s environmental footprint to crime and kidnapping in 2025, while overall sentiment remained broadly neutral, according to crypto intelligence platform Perception.

What to know:

  • In 2025, mainstream media coverage of Bitcoin became more balanced, with neutral reporting surpassing negative stories.
  • The shift in narrative was driven by the exhaustion of earlier critiques rather than increased enthusiasm for Bitcoin.
  • AI emerged as the dominant topic in media, overshadowing Bitcoin and driving more significant sentiment swings.